Game review: Yoshi's New Island

When it comes to loveable characters in the world of Mario, nobody can deny Yoshi his rightful place on the throne of adorability. So it's always a pleasure when Yoshi, or should I say Yoshi's, get their own game.

While Baby Mario and Baby Luigi were being delivered to their new parents, the stork is attacked by Kamek and his cronies. In the scuffle, Baby Luigi is kidnapped and Baby Mario is dropped on to Yoshi's Island. The Yoshi clan then sets out to help Baby Mario find Baby Luigi and take them to their new home.

This is the set-up for some stock-standard 2D platforming of the kind we have come to know and love from many a Super Mario Bros game, and more specifically from this game's predecessor, Super Mario Bros 2: Yoshi's Island.

Yoshi's New Island mixes standard graphics with hand-drawn backgrounds and pastel colour palette, which may sound unappealing - but works really well with the "baby" character theme throughout. It works even better when you have the 3D feature turned on - becoming one of the few games on the console to really showcase how good this can be.

Yoshi's Island was a great game back in 1995, and though Yoshi's New Island looks great and plays similarly, it's just a bit empty for those who have played the original. However, where this reintroduction to the series will succeed is nicely illustrated by my Mario-mad son's reaction. He loves it - and hasn't played a Yoshi's Island game before. So for newcomers to the world of Yoshi, this revisit is an excellent place to start.